The present invention generally relates to intravascular catheters. More specifically, the present invention relates to intravascular catheters such as guide and diagnostic catheters having multi-layered tips.
Diagnostic catheters and guide catheters are commonly used to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of vascular diseases such as coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease. Because intravascular catheters must be navigated through a patient""s vascular system, it is desirable that the distal tip be atraumatic to avoid damaging the vascular wall, and radiopaque to facilitate radiographic visualization. However, soft polymer tips loaded with radiopaque material are sometimes difficult to bond to the shaft and sometimes have visual defects due to migration of the radiopaque material to the surface of the polymer tip.
To address these problems, the present invention provides, in one example, an intravascular catheter having a multi-layered distal tip including an inner layer, an intermediate layer and an outer layer wherein the intermediate layer is formed of a polymeric material loaded with a high percentage of radiopaque agent, and the inner and outer layers are formed of readily bondable materials which substantially cover the intermediate layer to thereby increase surface area contact and bond strength therebetween.